The Dragon and the Demon
by xXxDarkShadowWolfxXx
Summary: Rune didn't want to be here. Rune didn't want to be anywhere really. But, here she is, basically forced into a rowdy guild of mages by its elderly guildmaster who couldn't leave well enough alone. Follow this unfortunate mage as she tries to move on from her past and make a new start. It won't be easy, but maybe a certain Dragon Slayer can help. Maybe she could even help him?
1. Chapter 1: The New Member

**Authors note: Hey guys! This is my first actual story ever. So, if the first few chapters have some flaws, let me know, but be nice about it. I wasn't even going to post this until I got several chapters done, but I figured it'd be best to get some feedback to help with the process. There isn't going to be a set schedule for this story since I don't know how much time I will be able to devote. I get two days off from work a week, but I'm usually pretty burned out by then. Reviews would motivate me to work more and faster though, so if you see some potential in this story, let me know. Thanks a bunch for reading!**

**Chapter 1: The new Guildmate**

"I'm back everyone!" Makarov, an extremely small old man, exclaimed as he walked through the large front doors of the guild.

"Welcome back, Master." Erza, a thirteen year old, armor clad mage with scarlet hair pulled back into a large braid, greeted. "How was the meeting? Why are you nearly a week late getting back? We were about to send someone to look for you."

"Geeze you ask a lot of questions you armored freak!" Mirajane, a gothic-looking girl of about the same age with white hair pulled back into a ponytail by a black ribbon, shouted from her table a few feet away.

"Mira-nii! Do you have to start something already! It's only eight o'clock!" Lisanna, Mira's younger sister whined.

"What did you say you midriff showing freak!" Erza shouted and charged at the other girl before Makarov had the chance to answer any of her questions. And the fight was on. Punches, kicks, magic, and insults were flying between the two girls.

Makarov sighed and headed to the bar where he knew his drinking buddies Macao and Wabaka would be.

"So what _did_ take you so long?" Macao, a thirty-six year old man with dark blue hair, asked.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Makarov exclaimed and turned around in his seat to face the doors he just entered. There a small, somewhat emaciated girl about the age of fourteen with bandages covering her arms and neck and sickly-pale skin stood, glaring at the floor.

She had long, black hair that reached her midsection; a long, choppy fringe that covered the entire left side of her face and left ear all the way down to her chin; long, uneven bangs that hung slightly in the one eye that was visible and one that framed the right side of her face; and the ends of her hair kept the same uneven style as her fringe and bangs. Her facial features consisted of one visible eye that was a haunting, pale silver color and was surrounded by think, black lines with two lashes sticking out of the corner. She also had a few piercings on her face as well; one metal stud on the right side of her nose, one stud on the lobe of her visible ear, and two rings that went up the shell of her ear above the stud. She wore a punk-rock type of outfit that consisted of a black and white stripped, V-neck tank top that cut off a few inches above her bellybutton with a glaring skull and crossbones motif with a cracked right eye socket on the front; black cargo pants that were tucked into black combat boots that went up to the middle of her leg and had a series of buckles down their length; a black, spiked choker with a silver skull on the front of it; a white and black, checkered wristband on her right wrist accompanied by several different colored jelly bracelets; a black, spiked wristband on her left wrist; a black, spiked belt that was secured on the right side, but allowed to hang loose on the left side; chain suspenders that were also allowed to hang loose; and black nail polish which painted her long, sharply pointed fingernails.

"What's with the scary looking chick, gramps?" Laxus, Makarov's seventeen year old grandson asked.

"She's our newest guild member." Makarov replied before calling out enthusiastically to the girl. "What are you waiting for, Rune?! Come on over here so I can introduce you!"

"I'd rather not…" She mumbled to herself, but obediently did as she was told while still glaring at the ground.

"This is Rune Greywolf; she will be joining the guild." The old man introduced the young girl. "She's actually the reason I was late. I found her unconscious and badly injured in the forest on the outskirts of Clover Town when I went for a walk. I took her to the hospital and waited for her to recover enough that she could come here."

"Heh. Pathetic." Laxus sneered. "She looks like she'll drop dead if ya poke her too hard. I don't even think she could handle being a mage."

This caused the girl to redirect her glare from the floor to him. It was then that he got a full view of the icy-cold hatred that was present in her eyes, and the shards of blood-red coloring that had suddenly appeared within the pale silver iris. It sent a frightful chill down his spine.

"_If looks could kill!"_ He thought.

"She has a strong magic-aura, so I have reason to believe she was quite the powerful mage at one point. As for her physical state, apparently she escaped from a rather bad situation that resulted in her appearance at the moment. All she needs is some time to recover and to put on some weight and she'll be fine." Makarov assured.

"Whatever, she still looks pretty freakin' weak to me. Besides, if she was strong, she wouldn't have passed out in the first place." The teen scoffed.

That made Rune snap.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ME, YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME, AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN DECIDING WHO'S WEAK AND WHO'S NOT!" She roared in anger with a hint of what sounded almost like a feral snarl.

"Whoa! Calm down, kid!" Wabaka, a thirty-six year old man with brown, pompadour-styled hair, exclaimed with his hands out in front of himself defensively.

"DON'T **EVER** CALL ME KID! I'VE SEEN AND DONE THINGS THAT WOULD BRING A GROWN MAN TO TEARS! **I AM NO KID!**" She raged on.

"Okay! Okay! We won't call you a kid! Just calm down!" Macao exclaimed with his hands in the same defensive position as Wabaka's.

"Calm down? Calm down!? I was CALM until that JACKASS over there opened his mouth!" Rune snapped and whipped her head toward the man who was responsible for her being here in the first place. "This is why I didn't want to come here in the first place! I hate people; I told you that!"

Suddenly Rune's demeanor went from livid to very sad, catching everyone by surprise more than her sudden outburst of anger.

"You should've just left me there to die…. It would've been better that way…." Rune said sadly while returning her gaze to the floor.

Makarov stood up in his chair and took Rune's chin in his fist, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Rune…. I know you've been through a lot, and though I don't know what that may since you won't give any details, I do know that it's no reason to think that way…." He said in a fatherly tone.

"You _don't _know that….." Rune whispered and turned her head away.

Makarov sighed in defeat. Hopefully the girl would come around eventually and talk about whatever is wrong with her. "Well, let me introduce you to the rest of the guild and then I'll have someone escort you to Fairy Hills. Okay?"

Rune nodded and turned to face the rest of the people in the guild.

"ALRIGHT YOU BRATS, LISTEN UP!" Makarov shouted, effectively bringing all fights and conversations to a halt. "This is Rune! She is our newest guild member. I want you to make her feel at home here, but don't overdo it. Is that clear?!"

Everyone in the guild nodded to show that they understood what he wanted from them.

"Good! Now, has anyone seen Erza?" Makarov asked, looking around the guildhall for the scarlet haired girl.

"She went to go find Natsu and Gray." Levy, an eleven year old girl with striking blue hair, answered.

"Okay. Has anyone seen Mirajane?" He began to look for the other girl.

"She went chasing after Erza, screaming at her to finish their fight." Elfman, Mirajane's younger brother, told him.

Makarov sighed in frustration. "What about you, Levy?"

"I-I would, but Jet, Droy and I are leaving for a mission. If we don't go now, we'll miss the last train to the town we need to get to..."

"Why don't we have more girls in this guild!?" Makarov said.

"S-sorry, Master." Levy apologized.

"It's alright, child. There's nothing that can be done for it. Go on to your mission, and you three had better be careful." The old man said.

"We will, Master!" Levy said with a warm smile as she skipped off to meet her team-mates.

"Alright then. Laxus! Escort Rune to Fairy Hills for me." Makarov ordered.

"Why do I have to, Gramps!?" Laxus complained.

"You wanted to be Guild Master when I retired, right? Well, this is part of the job, so you better get used to it." Makarov said.

"If it's part of being the Guild Master, then why aren't you doing it?!" Laxus retorted.

"Because of another part of being a Guild Master. Paperwork." Makarov stated.

"But, she's crazy! Did you not see what just happened?!" Laxus shouted.

"Laxus!" The old man chided.

"No. It's fine; I don't need _his _help, or anyone else's. I'll find it myself." Rune said before quickly turning towards the door and leaving.

"Go apologize right now and take her to Fairy Hills like I told you to!" Makarov ordered.

"I have nothing to apologize for; you know it's true. Besides, it's not my fault you brought her here, so she's not my responsibility." Laxus countered. "Why did you bring her here anyway?"

"Because I couldn't leave her there to die and I couldn't just let her loose in the world in the physical and emotional condition she's in. I don't know what on Earthland that child could have gone through to make her that way, but something has severely damaged her her. I was hoping that bringing her here would help." Makarov explained. "But you're just making it worse! You've always had a hard time with knowing when to shut up and keep things to yourself! Your behavior had gotten entirely out of hand lately, and that needs to change! If you _EVER _want to be Guild Master, then you had better shape up and start giving a damn about someone other than yourself! Honestly; what happened to you!? You used to be such a sweet, caring boy…. What happened to that Laxus?"

"Okay! Okay! I'll go! I'll go! Just don't bring up the "back when you little" lecture again!" And with that, he ran out the door to catch up with the girl.

It didn't take long for Laxus to catch up with the girl, which she was not happy about.

"What do _you _want?" Rune said with such venom in her voice it made the older teen flinch slightly.

"I came to take you to fairy Hills like Gramps told me to." Laxus said matter of factly.

"I said I didn't need _your _help! I can find it myself!" Rune growled.

"You can, can you? Then explain why you are heading in the completely opposite direction." Laxus said in a smug tone.

"BECAUSE NO ONE GAVE ME A DIRECTION TO LOOK IN, YOU JERK!" She screamed and ran in the direction she had been heading.

"What are you doing!? I told you that was the wrong way!" The boy called after her.

"I said I'd find it myself and that's exactly what I intend to do! I'm going to look as if you never showed up in the first place!" She shouted over her shoulder.

"Oh no you don't!" Laxus shouted and took off after her.

For a girl in as frail of a condition as she was, Rune was surprisingly fast and nimble. You would have thought she was a parkour champion or something because she was jumping off walls to avoid people, jumping over decorative walls and flower boxes without trouble, using flagpoles hanging off the sides of buildings to propel herself up onto the balconies of the buildings that lined the streets, jumping from balcony to balcony without fear of missing despite the large gap between some of them. Eventually, Rune ran out of balconies to jump to as she reached the town square, but that didn't stop her as Laxus had hoped it would. Without even a thought about it, she jumped from the last balcony and did a perfect tuck and roll to avoid injury. The movement was so fluid she practically hit the ground running.

She bolted into an alley that Laxus knew was blocked off by a fence, and he smirked. _"Got ya now, twerp!"_

His hopes were soon dashed when she jumped over it, catching the top with her hands and tucking in her legs so she could make it over without catching her clothing and make a smooth landing. Laxus was strong and fast, but he was not a jumper; his bulky build made sure of that. So, he had no choice but to climb over it, which cost him some distance. He ran faster than ever to catch up. There was only a strait path through the alley that she could follow, so it wasn't like he had to worry about her weaving around though, which made things at least somewhat easier for him.

Then, just as she made it to the other side of the alley, she froze. There was a drop off that lead to the town's channel system, and this was one of the few areas where three sides were surrounded by water. The distance to the other side in front of her was one she could easily make, and yet, she didn't jump. Laxus wasn't expecting the sudden stop, and was unable to stop in time. He slammed into her back and sent them both over the edge. Rune let out a scream of pure terror as she hit the water and promptly started drowning. Laxus grabbed her and dragged her out, growling in anger the entire time out of anger.

"Thanks, ya dumb bitch! Now I'm totally soaked! You're just lucky I didn't have my sound pod with me, or you'd be dead!" Laxus shouted as he dropped her on the concrete.

Rune didn't seem to even hear his harsh words, she was too busy shaking as she pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned her back against the wall.

Laxus looked at her curiously. The water wasn't warm, but it sure wasn't cold enough to cause someone to shake like that.

"Oi! You even listening to me!?" Laxus shouted, snapping Rune out of her trance.

The girl quickly scrambled to her feet and tried to take off again, but Laxus grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back so hard she landed on her bottom on the hard concrete. Laxus wasted no time in picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatos. She naturally began struggling right away.

"LET GO OF ME! PUT ME DOWN!" She shrieked in protest.

"You were the one who decided to be difficult." He said flatly. "Now calm down before you really piss me off."

Rune did stop screaming and struggling, but only to allow her hand to be enveloped in jet black magic energy; this energy then began to form long, sharp claws. She swiftly buried the claws into the older mage's back before he could notice what she was doing, causing him to hiss in pain.

"What the hell was that for!?" He yelled.

"I told you to put me down! Now, do it or I'll get you again!" She yelled back.

"Oh no you don't!" He placed the palm of his free hand on her back and sent a jolt of electricity up her spine. Surprisingly, she didn't shriek in pain as one would expect someone who had just been electrocuted to. She did, however, become rigid before becoming limp and motionless, as one would expect.

"I….c-can't…..move…." She struggled to say.

"That's the point. You could have just held still and let me take you to Fairy Hills, but no; that would be too easy, wouldn't it?" he said sarcastically.

Rune fell silent in defeat. She couldn't move, hell, she could barely speak; there was nothing she could do at this point. But, she vowed to get back at the lightning mage one day before passing out.

Laxus snorted in annoyance and started off toward Fairy Hills. Of course, he got some weird looks from the people he passed; carrying around an unconscious girl will get that reaction, you know. He didn't care though; it was none of their business. Thankfully, Rune seemed to have given up the fight, because she hadn't so much as complained yet even though they had been walking long enough to be nearly half way there.

It was then that it hit him. "Shit! The water!"

Rune was soaked to the bone when he shocked her, which made the charge more powerful than he had meant it to be. Not to mention that she was in a weakened state as it were. I mean, the girl had so little meat on her bones that Laxus had already had to readjust her on his shoulder several times because her bones were digging into his shoulder uncomfortably. He could still feel her pulse and her breathing, so she was at least alive, but he knew he was really in for it when he reached their destination.


	2. Chapter 2: Forced Together

**Authors note: Yo, guys. Got the second chapter done and up, and I hope you like it. By the way, I'm in need of a beta reader to help me with this because I feel this chapter could have been better, and I'm not sure about the structure of my writing. I'm trying to study the structure of other stories to help with this, but another brain working on it would help too. Also, if anyone has suggestions for future chapters, run 'em by me; I'm always up for a fresh idea. You'll be mentioned in the chapter for any help you offer, of course. :3**

**Also, a big thanks to **Ishita.d **for my first review! *hug***

~two weeks later~

"Whatever happened to the new girl?" Macao asked as he sipped his beer.

"Hilda has refused to let her leave the dorms in the state she was in." Makarov explained. "My idiot grandson roughing the poor child up didn't help matters ether."

Wabaka sighed. "Does that boy have a gentle bone in his body?"

"If he does, it's overpowered by his thick skull." Makarov spat.

The three men laughed and continued their conversation, oblivious to the fact that the girl they had been talking about had just walked in and hailed down one of the waitresses to order some food. She didn't feel all that hungry, but she knew she had to try to force herself to eat in order to gain back her strength. She didn't want to talk to anyone, so after placing her order, she laid her head face-down on her arms, which she had folded on the counter, and hoped no one would bother her. No such luck though.

Makarov had noticed her and walked over to the corner where she sat. He hopped up on the counter to her left and attempted to talk to her. "So…..what are you planning to do today? Take a job?"

She didn't speak a single word; she just nodded with her head still down, hoping he would leave.

"Well, before you go, you need to have the guild mark placed on you. Where would you like it?" Makarov continued

Again, she said nothing and didn't raise her head. She simply un-tucked her right arm, pointed to her tattoo on her left, and re-tucked it.

"On your tattoo? Kind of an odd place, but whatever floats your boat, I guess." The old man said with a shrug. "What color would you like?"

"_Damn, I guess I have to talk now." _She thought and turned her head slightly in his direction, "I'd like it to match my skin tone, or something close to it. Is that possible?" she asked.

"Hmmmm….. Never tried it. I'm sure we could." he replied.

Rune nodded and returned her head to its original position.

Makarov sighed at the child's unwillingness to talk. "You seem more upset today then you were before, Rune. Do you want to talk about it?"

Rune shook her head.

"Is it about you past?" he asked in a compassionate tone.

Rune nodded in response.

"Alright. You'll talk about it when you're ready, I suppose." he said before taking a swig of beer from the tankard the waitress had just given him. "I'll be over with Macao and Wabaka; come get me when you're done eating."

He walked to the table, on the other side of the guild, where Macao, Wabaka, and now Laxus were, and sat down with a sigh.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do with that stubborn girl…." he said as he looked over at Rune who was now silently picking at her food. The others looked over as well.

"Why?" Macao asked. "What's wrong with her?"

"That's the problem!" Makarov exclaimed. "I don't know; she won't tell me anything! She's always angry and depressed, and she won't tell me what's wrong. All she says that it's about her past and she doesn't want to talk about it. I want to help her, but I can't until I know what happened…."

"Eh, leave the twerp alone. If she doesn't wanna talk, then that's her problem." Laxus said, taking a drink from his tankard.

"Oh Laxus, you still have so much to learn. It's often the silent sufferers that need help the most." Makarov sighed, and the other two men at the table nodded in agreement.

"Whatever." is all the spiky-haired blonde scoffed.

Makarov fell silent as he began to ponder something.

"Hmmmm….. I think I have an idea." he finally said after a few minutes. All three men at the table looked at him, waiting for their Guild Master to reply. "Laxus, you will be going with Rune on her missions for a while." Makarov ordered.

"And why the hell would I do that?" the young man questioned.

"Because, she needs to learn to open up to people, and you need to learn to be kinder. It'll be good for the both of you." his grandfather replied nonchalantly.

"Hell no! I'm not following some little brat all over Fiore!" Laxus bellowed. "Besides, I don't know if you've noticed this, but we HATE each other!"

Laxus attempted to get up from the table and leave, but Makarov made one of his hands gigantic and held him down by his shoulders.

Makarov looked his grandson dead in the eye and said, "You may be my grandson, but that doesn't give you special treatment. When your Guild Master gives you a direct order, you follow it."

"Fine! I'll go! But, I'm only going on five at the most." Laxus glared at his grandfather, only agreeing to this to avoid another lecture. God, he hated those.

A few moments later, Rune walked up and tapped on Makarov's shoulder.

"You done?" Makarov asked.

"Yes." the girl replied.

"Very well, follow me to my office and we'll get your mark in place. Then, go pick a job and bring it to me so I can approve it." the tiny man said as he started walking towards a door at the back of the guild with the raven-haired mage following.

Once they got to the rather large office, Makarov had Rune sit in a chair in front of his desk while he retrieved the magic stamp tool from a nearby cabinet. He grabbed the tool and hopped up on the chair next to her in order to reach the area in which she had requested the mark to be placed. Rune could feel the magic emanating from the tool as it was pressed on her arm. It tingled and she had to fight to resist a shiver that had begun to make its way down her spine as a result of it.

"Okay! It's done!" Makarov exclaimed as he took the magic stamp tool off of her arm and set it on his desk. "What do you think? Do you like it?"

"Sure." she said replied, examining her new guild mark. "I'm going to go pick a job."

"Okay, I'll be back over at the table with the others. Bring the paper over to me when you've picked one." he said over his shoulder as he hopped down from the chair and began walking out of his office.

Rune walked to the job board and Makarov went back to the table he had been at a few minutes before. When he got to the table, Makarov was surprised to see that his grandson was still there. He had expected him to leave in a vain attempt to get out of going on the mission.

"Where's the twerp at?" the young man asked with irritation evident in his voice.

"She's picking a job." Makarov stated as he sat down.

"Wait, she agreed to this without arguing even a little?" Laxus questioned.

The old man hesitated. "Ummmm…"

"You didn't tell her, did you?" Laxus demanded, even more irritated than before.

"Well, what do you want me to do?! The two of you didn't exactly get off on the right foot yesterday! I'm waiting until I send the confirmation message, so there is no way either of you can get out of it." Makarov replied.

"Yeah, 'cause that will help the situation." Laxus said sarcastically.

A few minutes later, Rune walked over and handed Makarov the flyer that had the job she wanted printed on it.

"Taking down a monster at Mt. Criostail, huh? You sure that's a good idea? After all, you haven't healed fully yet." Makarov questioned.

"I've fought with worse. I'll be fine." Rune replied flatly.

"Well, if you're sure you'll be okay, I guess I can't stop you." he said as he wrote down what job she took and sent a confirmation letter to the client. "Oh, by the way, I've assigned Laxus to go on this mission with you, as well as a few others after that."

"**WHAT! **OH HELL NO!" she screamed." I'M NOT GOING **ANYWHERE **WITH THAT LIGHTNING-BASTARD!"

"Lightning-Bastard?" the four men at the table repeated in unison.

"How did you know my grandson uses Lightning Magic?" Makarov questioned.

"That son of a bitch shocked me yesterday because I was 'being difficult'!" Rune snapped.

"Laxus! What the hell is wrong with you, boy!? I knew you were thick headed enough to knock the girl out, but this!?" Makarov scolded.

"Well, she was!" Laxus defended.

"That's no excuse! Apologize!" Makarov bellowed as he stood up on his seat and pointed at his grandson.

"Hell no! She deserved it!" Laxus shouted.

"You'll do as I- Ack!" Makarov was cut off by a sharp pain in his chest.

All at the table stared wide-eyed at their master, unsure as to what they should do. This happens sometimes; sometimes it's serious, and other times it'll stop after a few seconds with no action other than having him rest required.

Luckily, this was one of those times when it wasn't that serious. "Phew… I need to calm down." he stated after a few seconds of clutching his chest. "No more arguing. The mission has been confirmed already, so there's now getting out of it now. Now, shoo before the two of you become the death of me."

"Fine." the two young mages growled in unison as they walked out of the guild.

"Well, that went better than expected." Makarov said.

"You expected it to be worse!?" Macao questioned.

"If you knew it was going to be bad, why did you put them together?" Wakaba asked.

"I think it will be good for the two of them." Makarov replied with a shrug.

"How?" his two drinking companions asked.

Makarov took a sip of his beer and replied. "She needs to bring down the walls she's put up and he needs to stop acting the way he does. I figured, 'why not try to kill two birds with one stone'." he replied.

"I dunno….." they both said in a skeptical tone.

"Trust me, it'll be fine." Makarov said, taking another sip of beer.


	3. Chapter 3: Rough Start

**Note: Hey, sorry for the delay with this one. My computer was in for repairs for a god awful amount of time. It'll probably be a little bit of a wait for the next one too since I managed to break my charger now, possibly part of the computer itself. -_- I ordered a new charger, but if the computer's broken, I'm going to need to save up to get a new one. I've already poured too much money into this one to justify another trip to the repair shop.**

**A big thanks to AyumuMatsuoXIII for the review! It really made me happy to see you enjoyed the story so much even though it hasn't really even gotten off the ground!**

**Also, thanks to zhgolfer for my first favorite!**

**Still looking for someone who wants to proofread these chapters for me. I need the naziest of grammar Nazis! PM me if interested. Also, PM or review with any ideas you think I could throw into the story! Thanks a bunch for reading!**

"Why the hell are we walking?!" Rune shrieked while flailing as Laxus dragged her away from the train station she had previously been heading toward by the back of her shirt.

"Because I said so!" Laxus growled and continued dragging her away, which required a surprising amount of effort.

"It'll take forever!" Rune whined and continued to flail. "We'll have to camp out at least one night, and I don't want to spend any more time with you than I have to, Lightning Bastard!"

"Will ya quit calling me that!?" Laxus snapped.

"Fine, Sparky." Rune said with a devious edge to her voice.

"What was that!?" Laxus growled and let go of the girl's shirt, spinning her around so he could glare directly into her eyes.

The corners of Rune's mouth turned upward ever so slightly. "Spar-ky"

"Why you little!" Laxus shouted as he lunged for the extreme annoyance of a girl, but she managed to jump away before he could reach her.

"You seem more like thunder rather than lightning; so slow. Rune taunted as she dodged yet another sudden attack from the severely aggravated boy. "Tsk, tsk. Such bad aim, Sparky."

"Shut the fuck up!" Laxus roared and attacked again, this time with his fist wrapped in lightning.

This time, Rune decided to make a break for it, figuring that she would be able to put enough distance between her unwanted companion and herself to snatch up some tickets and board the train just in time for Laxus to board the train just before it left the platform. There would be no way for him to prevent them from taking the train at that point no matter what Laxus did. Her hopes were dashed pretty quickly by a crack of electricity and the sudden tightening of her muscles. The momentum Rune had built up during her mad-dash for the station resulted in her skidding face-first across the cobblestone street. Her shaking muscles tried to push her off the ground and into a standing position, but she was pushed back down by Laxus' foot on her back before she made much progress.

"We're walking, get it!?" Laxus snapped.

"Fuck you!" Rune shouted and tried to get up again, but Laxus wouldn't allow it.

"You want another zap there, kid!?" Laxus threatened.

"Try me, Sparky!" Rune challenged as more electricity began to crackle.

The lightning mage was about to attack, but he was suddenly hit in the face with a purse so hard that he fell flat on his back before he could.

"What do you think you're doing, you insolent whelp!?" A short old woman scolded. "The child is still recovering!"

"Damn it, you old bat!" Laxus yelled while holding his now bleeding nose.

The old woman hit him over the head with her purse again. "Watch your language!"

"What the hell do you have in there!?" Laxus shouted, now holding his head. "Rocks?!"

"Knock it off!" Laxus demanded. "She started it anyway! She tried to make me take the train!"

"I don't care who started it!" She shouted. "Why are you two together and where are you going?"

"She's taking a job, and gramps made me come along in case she couldn't handle it." Laxus explained

"What is that idiot thinking?! Leaving a pretty little thing like her in your care is like letting a fox guard a hen house!" The old woman ranted.

"Just what are you implying?" Laxus was aghast. "I wouldn't do nothin'!"

"Like I'd trust you! She shouldn't be taking a job anywhere yet anyway! I'm taking her back to Fairy Hills." She stated firmly.

"No way!" Rune argued. "I'm perfectly capable! Besides, the notice has been sent already! We can't get out of it!"

"I cannot let you go." The old woman said, not giving an inch.

"Too bad!" Rune yelled.

"You're not going!" The old woman snapped.

"YES I AM!" Rune argued.

"No you're not!" The woman argued back.

"Hilda." A man's voice said. "Let her go on the misson."

Everyone turned to see Makarov walking toward them.

"I trust Laxus won't do anything along the lines of what you're thinking. He's an idiotic brute, but not like that." He said

"Even if I believed that," Hilda argued, "She's still not well enough to go on a mission! And your ill-behaved grandson of yours isn't helping matters."

"I'm perfectly capable!" Rune repeated.

"That's enough out of you." Makarov glared at the girl, shutting her up.

Laxus snickered. "You're in trouble."

"You too boy!" Makarov snapped and continued talking to Hilda. "I know you're protective of your girls, but you need to let her choose her own fate."

"I just don't think it's a good idea….." Hilda grumped.

"It'll be fine." He assured before returning his attention to the teens. "Now, get up and be on your way, you two. It's a long walk from here to Mt. Criostail.

"What!? You're trying to make me walk all the way there too!?" Rune shrieked.

"Yes. For reasons I promised to not disclose, Laxus does not take the train, or really any mode of transportation, unless the situation is dire or his destination is inaccessible by any other means." Makarov explained. "Besides, the last train heading anywhere near the village you need to get to for the next six hours just left."

"Well, that's just great! Does that mean that I have to walk to ALL my jobs while Crybaby Sparky Boy is tagging along!?" Rune whined.

"I ain't no crybaby!" Laxus defended.

"Are too, Crybaby. Awe you weally so scawed of a wittle twain?" Rune teased.

"That's enough, Rune!" Makarov snapped. "His reason are his own and you'll just have to deal with it. Now, both of you get going before I decide a punishment is in order because of the ill behavior you have both displayed just now."

"Y-yes, sir….." Laxus gulped before rising to his feet and pulling a now sitting Rune up by her shirt to her own. "Let's go, Twerp."

"Good. Now, I don't want to hear anything about you two misbehaving from anyone, got it?"

"Yes, sir…." Laxus said reluctantly before grabbing Rune by the arm and leading her to the town gates.

Rune had been seething since the incident back at the train station, which was a few hours ago by this point. She's been trying to hold it in, but her ability to do so had been reduced long ago. She'd love nothing more than to take all her rage out on the object of her fury, Laxus, but she didn't want to know the consequences Makarov would have in store for her if she did. So, instead, she turned to the nearest tree and kicked it as hard as she could.

"DAMN IT!" She yelled in anger as the tree cracked and fell over from the force of the blow.

"Damn, kid! What's your deal!?" Laxus shouted, surprised by the sudden outburst. _"One kick did THAT!?"_

"Why…" Rune said with her head down and her fists clenched. "Why did I have to get stuck with you!? Why does anyone have to come with me!? I'm not weak! I'M NOT!"

"I'm not any happier about it than you are, but bitchin' and moanin' about it isn't gonna help." Laxus said.

"Whatever!" Rune spat.

Laxus sighed. "Let's camp here for the night."

Rune didn't bother answering.

"Start gathering firewood." He ordered. "I'll be back."

"Where the hell are you going?" Rune questioned. "I'm not doing all the work while you go gallivanting in the woods!"

"You wanna eat tonight?" Laxus snapped. "Then shut up and let me go get some fish."

"Fine…" Rune grumped and started picking up kindling.

Not much talking was done between the two of them for the rest of the night. They ate mostly in silence with the only interruption being Laxus getting on Rune's case for not eating enough, and they went to sleep not long after that without so much as a word to each other, though Rune could have sworn she heard the lightning mage grumble a "good night" before turning away from her in his sleeping bag. Today may have been a rough start, but that one little gesture did make Rune a little happy.


	4. Chapter 4: Softie and Mother Hen

**Author's note: Hey! Look! I finally got my s*** together enough to FINALLY post a new chapter. Why'd I sensor that? I don't know. It's almost 3am, so my brain-thoughts aren't up to speed at the moment. Anyway…..*sweat drop* Sorry for the wait… Heh-heh…. Well, I hope you guys like it. Again, constructive criticism is welcomed just as much as praise, so if you think I could have done better let me know how so I can improve this thing.**

**Also, I'd like to thanks again to AyumuMatsuoXIII for another uplifting review! Made my day when I read it.**

**And, thanks to Hope of Darkness and fairytailshipper05 for the follows!**

**Chapter 4: Softie and Mother Hen**

It took from the middle of the morning until dusk for them to reach the town of Criostail, which was near the peak of the mountain. It was a quaint, little town; there were cobblestone streets lined with small brick cottages and the occasional brick building, the entire place was surrounded by thick forest, everything was frosted with snow which sparkled in the warm glow of the sunset, and the streetlights and sculptures that decorated the town seemed to be made of some sort of crystal. The entire thing looked like something strait out of a children's Christmas book, and Rune was enchanted by it. Though she tried not to show it, the beautiful sight made her eyes sparkle with child-like wonderment, which made Laxus smirk,

It wasn't long before the teens were noticed by the townsfolk, who greeted them and inquired what they were doing in such an isolated place. Laxus explained that they were there to handle the mission request that had been sent to their guild, and the townsfolk were ecstatic. The town's economy relied heavily on the Lacrima mine located on the mountain's peak, but a monster has recently taken up residence there, making it impossible to extract the crystal from the mine. They had sent person after person, group after group to try and slay the monster, but none of them ever returned. By the time Rune and Laxus got to the town, they had raised the reward from 2,500,000 Jewels to 3,000,000 Jewels in an attempt to make the job more enticing to strong mages, which was a pleasant surprise. The locals had very little information about the monster since anyone who got close enough to the beast to learn anything about it never came back. All they know is that it is large, has horns, and they suspect it uses ice or snow magic. Rune's eyes flashed with determination and anticipation at that last detail.

"_This is going to be fun." _She thought, mentally smirking.

The townspeople gave them rooms for the night, since going in to the woods at night was pretty much suicide, especially with that monster lurking around. After they had eaten, the two went into their separate rooms for the night. It was only 8:00 at this time, so Laxus was not ready to go to sleep yet. With nothing better to do, Laxus decided to go out on his balcony for some fresh air. The chilled air felt good on his face, and the moon made the snow shimmer like a sheet of diamonds. He just stood there, leaning against the railing, thinking about this and that when, for some reason, his thoughts eventually wandered to the black-haired mage he had been forced to accompany.

"_Why's that little twerp so pissed all the time? What's her story? Wait, why do I even care?" _ He kept trying to shake off any thoughts about her, but after a while he gave up and had to admit that he was curious about the guild's new member. After all, she is the only member of the guild whose story he didn't know; in fact, she was the only member of the guild whose story no one knew. Hell, he didn't even know what magic she used! Sure, she had used one spell to attack him yesterday, but he didn't see it.

His thoughts were interrupted by something that sounded like sniffling. He looked to his left, his right, and down to the ground, but he couldn't find the source of the sound. Then, he looked up at the roof of the inn. There he saw Rune sitting on the roof with her chin rested on her knees, which she had hugged to her chest, and she was trembling. Laxus just stood there, staring at the girl. Was she crying? Or was it just because she was dumb enough to plop her ass down in the snow, in the middle of the night, in a snow covered mountaintop town, without a coat.

He got his answer in a single tear that glittered in the moonlight as it slid down her face. Rune hadn't seemed to have noticed his presence; if she had, she didn't do anything to indicate it. She just sat there, staring blackly at the tree line in front of her until she suddenly snapped her head up and turned it to the left. After that, she just sat there, staring at the woods as if she were searching for something.

Whatever she was looking for, she must have found it because she slid off of the roof, on to her balcony, hopped over the railing, on to the ground one story down, and tore off in the direction she had been staring.

"_What the hell is that brat doing now?"_ he thought, standing there staring after her for a few minutes before hopping off of his balcony to chase after her.

Rune tore through the forest as fast as she could, dodging trees as she did so. The icy air burned her skin, but it was hardly noticed. The snow was deep, making her movements require more energy than usual without the results she was used to, but she pressed on anyway with her eyes focused dead-ahead in a predatory gaze. She halted at the edge of a large clearing where a young boy, about eight or nine years old, with short brown hair came running from the trees. The boy tripped on something buried in the snow and fell. He turned around and looked at the sky in horror. A large creature flew over the trees and began its decent towards the boy, causing him to scream once more. He closed his eyes and braced for impact, but it never came.

The boy cautiously opened one eye and saw that the creature was gone. He opened the other eye and began to look around for the creature; when he looked towards his right, he saw that the beast had been knocked off course and now had its eyes locked on a teenaged girl with black hair, and she had her eyes locked on it.

(Meanwhile )

"Damn it!" The blonde mage cursed. _"How'd she get so far away so fast? Why'd she come out here anyway? And, why does there need to be this much damn snow!?" _Laxus kept running, but he was having a hard time dodging the trees in the darkness, and an even harder time trudging through the snow. "Stupid brat!" he growled.

Suddenly he heard a strange screech. _"What the hell was that?!" _he thought._ "Wait, is that the reason she came out here? No, impossible. There's no way she could have heard that from the inn, is there?"_

Laxus continued onward until he reached the clearing. There he saw a young boy sitting in the snow with a shocked look on his face. Laxus followed the boy's gaze and saw his partner staring down a strange creature. It was gray with black and white bands on its face and its sides. It had a birdlike head, horns that resembled those of a bull with black and white stripes on them, its body resembled that of a horse as did its front and back legs, and it had a long, serpentine tail.

"_What the hell is that? She's not really going to try to fight that thing, is she?"_

Both figures remained where they were, neither of them willing to make the first move. After what seemed like a century long standoff, the beast rose up, somehow flying even though it had no wings to do so. It reached a height above the trees and then dove down to strike the young mage, but she sunk into the ground before the beast's beak could even touch her.

"_Where the hell did she go?" _Laxus thought and be began looking around for her. The creature seemed to be thinking the same thing because it too was searching for the girl.

Suddenly a black, wispy mass with a bright, purple glow began to rise from the ground behind the beast and take on a humanoid form. It opened what could be assumed to be its eyes; though only one was visible. All that was there was what appeared to be an almond shaped hollow that was glowing with some sort of supernatural, red light from within.

The beast whipped its tail at the mass, but the tail went right through it and where the mass had been separated started to fuse back together.

Then the mass began to speak to the beast. "Sorry, but you can't hurt me with that when I'm like this. Unfortunately for you though, I can."

Its voice sounded an awful lot like the missing black-haired mage's, but it seemed rather echoed and distant, almost ghostly. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, yet nowhere at the same time.

The mass raised one hand in front of its face. Its fingers became long and pointed like claws and began to glow electric violet. The mass lunged forward and raked its claws across the beast's back. The beast shrieked in pain and tried to strike the mass with it tail once more, of course, failing. The mass lunged forward again to land another attack with its claws. The beast dodged the claws, but it was unable to do anything about what happened next.

"Dark Demon Slash!" the mass bellowed as one small wave of energy came from each of the mass's five fingers in the shape of claw marks.

These waves didn't break the beast's hide, but it did send it flying. The beast slammed into a tree and fell to the ground. In a matter of seconds the beast was on its feet, but it had lost its bravado and shrunk away from the black mass. It looked like it wanted to run but was too afraid to turn its back to its attacker.

"Well, go on then; shoo." the mass said, making a shooing motion with its hand. Something in the masses tone let the beast know that it was safe to turn tail and run, and it wasted no time in doing so.

As soon as the retreating beast could no longer be heard, the mass began to change. The black began to give way to colors and dissipate like smoke. After a few moments, the mass was completely gone and Rune was standing in its place.

"_So it was her." _Laxus thought. _"What magic was that?"_

The black-haired mage turned her attention to the little boy, who was still sitting on the ground, and began walking towards him. "Hey, you'll get sick if you stay down there!" she said, holding out a hand to help the boy up.

The boy took it with a shaky "thank you", as Kira pulled him to his feet.

"Now then," she said in a seemingly calm voice as she bent down to look the boy in the eye, "would you mind telling me what in God's name you're doing out here, at night, alone!?" she demanded in a slightly enraged tone, gripping his shoulders to keep him in place.

"U-umm." The boy said shaking, not from the cold, but from fear.

"Well! Out with it, boy!"

"I-it's m-my dad." The boy said with tears forming in his eyes.

"What about him?"

"H-he went missing two days ago, and-and I w-went to look for him."

"THAT IS REALLY STUPID!" she yelled, standing upright, but she held her tightening grasp on the boy's shoulders. "YOU KNOW THERE IS A MONSTER ON THE LOOSE, DO YOU NOT?! NOT TO MENTION ALL THE CREATURES THAT NORMALLY LIVE HERE!" Then, she was in his face again. "Do you have any idea how close you came to getting yourself killed!? If I hadn't happened to be outside, no one would have heard you and that beast would be munching on your lifeless corpse right now! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!?"

"But-but, I h-had to l-look for him!" the boy was crying now, hard. "I-I thought-ought that if I star-arted looking for him n-now, I could-ould find him before…. B-before the monster killed-illed him!"

Kira's eyes softened at the boy and knelt down in front of the boy and pulled him into a hug. "I know how you feel, little guy; I really do, but you can't put yourself in danger like this… I promise I'll find your dad for you."

"But-ut, what if, what if he's-e's already dead-ead by then!?" the boy sobbed.

"He won't be….. I just know it." She stayed there for several minutes, waiting for the boy to calm down, before standing up. "Let's get you home."

"O-okay." He sniffled and grabbed her hand.

"Wow, Kira! I didn't know you had such a soft side!" Laxus taunted, emerging from the edge of the clearing.

"Go to Hell!" she yelled back at him. "You could have taken the boy home instead of watching me fight that thing, you know!"

"W-what ?" Laxus asked, flabbergasted. "How long have you known I was here?!"

"I knew you were following me." Kira answered.

"How?" he asked, still dumbfounded.

"I could hear you, I could smell your scent, and you can't conceal your magic worth shit. You should probably work on that last one."

"I know, I know. Wait, you could hear and smell me following you? How'd you do that when I was so far behind you?"

"My senses are more acute than a normal person's" she shrugged. "

Why?" He asked, confused as to what she meant by 'normal people'.

"Now's not the time nor the place. I gotta get the kid home before he catches his death," she said before she turned her back to the boy and crouched down. "Get on my back; it'll be faster if I run."

"Okay." The now mostly calm boy said

"Wait," Laxus said and walked over to the two of them while shrugging off his coat. "You'll catch YOUR death for forgetting your coat."

"Thanks, but I'll survive." Rune politely refused.

"Just take the damn thing!" Laxus snapped. "I can just use my Lightning Body to get back in a couple seconds, and I'm in charge of you right now. Which means if you get sick, I'll get the blame for it."

Rune rolled her eyes and took the coat. "Fine, just quit nagging me, Mother hen."

"Tch." Was all the response Laxus bothered to give before disappearing in a bolt of lightning.


End file.
